Here’s the lowdown of the top deals from the startup space.
Exotel secures $40 mn in Series D funding from Steadview Capital
Customer engagement platform Exotel has secured $40 million in Series D funding round from Steadview Capital.
The firm has raised a total of $100 million in the last 15 months across multiple debt and equity rounds.
The fresh funds will be used to invest more in the Middle East and Southeast Asia markets for potential acquisitions that can add more omnichannel and full-stack capabilities to the platform and enable its growth, the company said in a statement.
Exotel has reported an annualised recurring revenue (ARR) of $50 million and aims to hit an ARR of $200 million over the next four years. It claims to have acquired more than 1,300 customers in the last 12 months including ITC Salaam in Saudi Arabia, Bajaj Allianz, City Mall, Krazybee, Shadowfax, and TCS.
SBI invests $20 mn in IPO-bound fintech startup Pine Labs
Fintech startup Pine Labs has raised $20 million from the commercial bank State Bank of India.
Earlier in 2021, the IPO-bound startup had raised a total round size of $600 million from a marquee set of new investors and followed it up with a $100 million fundraise from US-based Invesco Developing Markets Fund.
In addition to augmenting its merchant commerce offerings at the offline point-of-sale, Pine Labs is now looking to invest in scaling Plural, its newly launched brand of online payment products and emerge as an omnichannel partner of choice for merchants, the company said in a statement.
Pine Labs is also expanding its Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) business across India and Southeast Asia. The company has entered the consumer payment space with its April 2021 acquisition of Fave, one of Southeast Asia’s leading consumer fintech platform, and has a leading presence in the Gift, Prepaid and Stored Value segment through its 2019 acquisition of Qwikcilver.
In July 2021, Pine Labs closed a $600 million fundraising round at a $3 billion valuation. The investment is expected to help the company in its initial public offering (IPO) goal this year or early next year.
B2B e-commerce startup Geniemode bags $7 mn from Info Edge
B2B cross-border e-commerce company Geniemode has raised $7 million in Series A funding led by Info Edge Ventures.
The new funding round comes just four months after the startup raised $2.25 million seed round.
The new infusion of capital will be utilised to scale the company’s tech platform, expand geographically, increase its design capability and expand buyers and vendors base on the platform, it said in a statement.
“We are focused on becoming the top platform of choice for all international buyers across home, furniture, fashion & accessories and other design led categories. Our goal is to offer wide range of products, higher flexibility on MOQs, better pricing coupled with tech solution to make the entire process of sourcing smooth & hassle-free. We now have presence in US & UK to strengthen our reach amongst international customers,” said Tanuj Gangwani, CFO & Co-Founder, Geniemode.
The company added that it is on the track to hit $100 million in annualised topline in the next twelve months. Geniemode is a B2B cross-border tech platform enabling global buyers to source reliably from suppliers across India & SEA.
iD Fresh Food gets Rs 507 cr from NewQuest Capital Partners
Foodtech startup iD Fresh Food has raised Rs 507 crore in Series D funding round led by NewQuest Capital Partners along with its existing investor Premji Invest and others.
Early investor Helion Ventures exited with a tenfold return, the company said in a media statement.
The company plans to use the funds raised to foster product innovation, build capacities and expand its presence across key markets in India, the UAE, and the US. The company is also looking to expand to new markets such as Singapore and Malaysia, it added.
iD had secured $5.2 million in Series A funding from Helion Ventures in 2014 and $25 million from Premji Invest in 2017. The company has since expanded its product range, adding more innovative products such as vada batters, parottas, wheat chapatis, instant filter coffee liquid, bread curd and paneer to its offerings.
“In the coming years, we will expand our presence across channels and geographies, strengthen our supply chain practices and introduce innovative products that will redefine the packaged fresh food space not just in India, but across the globe,” said PC Musthafa, co-founder and CEO, iD Fresh Food.
CASHe raises Rs 140 cr in equity funding from TSLC Pte
Digital lending platform CASHe has raised Rs 140 crore of equity funding from its Singapore-based holding company TSLC.
With this fresh capital, the company will continue to boost its profitability, enhance its existing product lines such as personal loans, BNPL (Buy Now Pay Later), credit line and embedded card business, it said in a statement.
It aims to launch new offerings in WealthTech and ramp up its investments in operations, product development, data sciences, and technology. The company seeks to expand its loan book to Rs 3,000 crore and upscale its user base to 1 million from the current 4 lakh customers in FY 2022-23, it added.
CASHe disbursed over Rs 1,000 crore worth of loans in nine months of this fiscal year and is all set to disburse over Rs 1,400 crore in FY 21-22.
The latest round of capital infusion strengthens the Mumbai-headquartered fintech company’s balance sheet size to over Rs 800 crore, which constitutes about Rs 300 crore in equity and over Rs 500 crore raised through debt from a well-diversified pool of leading private banks and reputed NBFCs, CASHe said.
Innoviti gets Rs 80 cr in first close of its Series D funding round
Fintech platform Innoviti Payment Solutions has raised Rs 80 crore in a first close in its ongoing Series D funding round which was a mix of debt and equity led by Trifecta Debt Fund, Patni Advisors and Bessemer Venture Partners.
Angel investors like Sanjoy Bhattacharya, Bharat Jaisinghani, and others also participated in this funding round.
According to the company, Innoviti’s valuation has multiplied 2.5x from its Series C round a few months ago.
Innoviti is looking to raise Rs 400 crore in primary funding in Series D to fuel its growth with a plan for a listing in the next two to three years. Other marquee investors are expected to join in the subsequent closings over the next few weeks.
The funds raised will be used for funding working capital for its enterprise business, marketing of mid-market products, further strengthening of the technology platforms for online and B2B payments and tactical acquisitions in the area of data sciences and marketing technologies, the company said.
The firm’s enterprise business has been EBITDA positive since October 2020, and the combined business has turned profitable in December 2021. Innoviti expects to turn cash positive over the next 12 months.
BlackSoil Capital raises Rs 70 cr via secured NCDs issue
New-age, sector-agnostic, alternative credit platform, BlackSoil has raised Rs 70 Crore through an issue of non-convertible debentures (NCDs) for its non-banking finance company (NBFC).
These NCDs have been issued to ultra-high networth individuals (UHNIs), HNIs and family offices, of which 65% were existing investors. This marks the final capital raise via NCDs in calendar year 2021 for the NBFC, which has managed securing Rs 100 crore from over 100 UHNIs, HNIs and Family Offices, during this period, the company said.
The capital raised through the latest fundraise will be deployed for lending activities, across a variety of debt products, to fund mid and growth-stage enterprises in the startup ecosystem.
The NBFC aims to fund around 25 startups from sectors such as Deeptech, B2B Tech, Enterprise SaaS, Fintech, Healthtech, Edtech, Clean Energy, and D2C/B2C e-commerce.
Moneyboxx raises Rs 14.41 cr equity to fund AUM growth & branch expansion
Moneyboxx Finance, a BSE-listed Non-Banking Finance Company (NBFC) has raised equity capital of Rs 14.41 crore by way of private placement from non-promoter investors.
The company plans to use the funds for expanding its scale of operations and tap growth opportunities given the huge unmet credit gap for micro enterprise.
The firm’s AUM will cross Rs 100 crore in January 2022, supported by growing business at existing branches, and the fundraise would further augment AUM expansion by additional Rs 75 crore, it said in a statement.
Moneyboxx, which doubled its branch network to 22 in FY21, plans to add seven more branches, taking its network to 30 by March 2022.
The firm which provides small-ticket loans to micro and small enterprises in Tier-III towns had reported growth of 127.3 percent in its loan book, which stood at Rs 72.80 crore as on September 30, 2021, in comparison to Rs 32.03 crore as on September 30, 2020.
(Edited by : Vijay Anand)
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